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Green Tea Blender Soap

This blender soap is wonderful for the home soap maker who wants to make soap for home use and to share with family and friends. This recipe makes almost half a pound of soap, or about 8 bars. It is a mild soap that has skin conditioning qualities and a nice bubbly lather that feels pleasant against the skin. This soap can be used in the shower and at the sink–it is mild enough for daily use. And, because you’re making it yourself, you can make it smell like whatever you wish!

Note: If you like the idea of green tea soap but don’t want to make it yourself, I sell this bar (with enhanced skin-conditioning ingredients like shea butter) at my Etsy shop with free shipping. You can find the green tea soap for sale here.

SOAP MAKING PRIMER

Just to get this out of the way, there is no way you can make soap without lye. Soap is basically defined as the chemical reaction between lye (a base) and fats (an acid) called saponification. This chemical reaction can’t take place without lye, which means no soap.

There is no way you can make soap without lye, shown here along with tea made from distilled water.

That said, after this chemical reaction is complete, there is no longer any lye left in the soap–it has all been made into soap along with your fats! This soap recipe is mild on the skin, and when properly aged for six weeks before use, no lye remains.

SAFETY

Lye is a caustic base, which means it will burn you if you get it on your skin. Safety glasses should be worn; a pair of safety gloves and a long-sleeved shirt wouldn’t hurt, either. As another safety precaution, an open bottle of vinegar should always be at your side when making soap. Vinegar is a mild acid, and it will neutralize the lye if you get some on you. If you do, just pour the vinegar straight onto your skin.

Using a blender for soap making is very fast and easy, but extra caution should be practiced when doing so. As you may have experienced, sometimes blenders can “burp” after mixing liquid ingredients, releasing trapped air bubbles that exist in the mix. You must be very cautious of this, and make sure you do not allow any splashing or “burpage” to be released into your face! Always shake or tap the blender to release these potential large air bubbles before removing the lid from blended soap.

Your ingredients include olive and coconut oils, lye, salt, sugar, distilled water, and a tea bag.

Here are safety precautions to follow:

ALWAYS pour your lye into the water and NEVER pour water into lye. Doing so will cause an explosion that will definitely ruin your day, and potentially send you to the hospital
Wear eye protection
Protect your skin from splatter and splashing
Keep pets and children away from your lye at all times
Always keep the lid on the blender when it is in motion
After your soap has traced, tap the blender (still with the lid on) on your kitchen counter to release any air bubbles before removing the lid.

INGREDIENTS

When you pour your tea/lye solution in with your oil, you will see it settle. After blending for about 15 to 30 seconds, it will trace.

Note: All ingredients for soap making are measured by weight, not volume. Since you are working with a chemical reaction, weights provide a more accurate measure than volume. If you plan on making small batch soaps at home often, invest in a digital postal scale, which is available from any office supply store. They vary widely in price, so just get the cheapest one available; it will be accurate enough for your soap making.

Green Tea: Studies have documented the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of green tea when applied topically . Green tea applied to the skin can can reduce sun damage and help skin problems like papulopustular rosacea. However, in this recipe the benefits will be limited as exposure to air decreases the effectiveness of green tea for these purposes. For this reason, consider the green tea in this recipe to be more for color, and is an optional ingredient. You can also substitute black tea if you’d like.
Distilled Water: Using distilled water is not mandatory, but undistilled water will incorporate the minerals and chemicals in the water to your soap, which can cause discoloration and other issues. You can buy gallons of distilled water at any grocery store.
Olive oil: Olive oil is a wonderful moisturizer for the skin because it attracts external moisture to the skin and holds it there, while at the same time providing a barrier against your internal moisture from escaping. And it does not block natural skin functions. When it comes to soap making, the cheaper the olive oil, the better. Olive pomace oil (very low grade) is wonderful if you can find it. Otherwise, just purchase a cheap brand of olive oil. But beware! Many manufacturers are diluting their olive oils with other oils to decrease costs. Make sure the oil you are buying is 100% pure olive oil.
Empty drink containers from coconut water or nut milks make excellent molds for soap making. One container will hold one batch of blender soap.
Coconut oil: This is very popular in soap making and with good reason. Coconut oil has wonderful lathering and moisturizing properties, and makes a good hard bar of soap.
Sugar: Increases the bubbly lather
Salt: Increases a soap’s hardness
Essential Oils: Feel free to use your favorite scent in this soap. I like to use lemongrass or lemon because it fits the “tea time” theme, but use whatever you like best. It is highly recommended, however, that you only use pure essential oils for soap making; synthetic scents do not always react well in the soap making process, and could cause your batch to fail (you’d know it if you saw it).
Molds: I find that the best molds for home soap making are empty nut milk, coconut water, or similar containers. Just rinse them out thoroughly before use, and cut the tops off so you can easily pour your soap into them. After the soap is hard, simply tear the box away and recycle.

RECIPE

This recipe will fill a standard-sized blender about half way full. You really don’t want to make any more than this because you want enough room in the blender for the liquid to move and mix after you turn the blender on. Because there is lye here, oozing soap out of the blender is not something to encourage.

1 green tea bag (you can use black tea)
Olive oil: 14 ounces
Coconut oil: 6 ounces
Distilled water: 7.6 ounces
Lye: 2.8 ounces
Salt: 1 tsp
Sugar: 1 tsp
Essential oils: 2 tsp
1 empty box from, say, coconut water or nut milk (at least 32 ounces in size)

When the soap traces, it will change color and become opaque. A bit of soap drizzled from a spoon will remain on the surface for a few seconds before sinking back into the soap.

When the soap traces, it will change color and become opaque. A bit of soap drizzled from a spoon will remain on the surface of the soap for a few seconds before sinking back into the soap. It will leave a trace!

Measure your lye into a small bowl and set aside.

Get your essential oil bottle ready with the lid open and the dropper popped out. Have your teaspoon at the ready, too.

Measure your distilled water into a container, then heat it until it is warm (if you wish you can heat it in a microwave). Pop the tea bag into the water and let it steep until the tea is brewed. When cool, transfer the tea into a jar with a lid. Make sure you remove the tea bag, squeezing it thoroughly to extract all of the liquid.

Wearing your protective gear, slowly pour your premeasured lye into your tea. The addition of the lye will cause a few things: 1) your solution will get cloudy and 2) it will get very hot. This is normal.

Pour your soap into a prepared mold such as this.

Leave your lye solution sit until it reaches about 90F (this may take a few hours) and when the lye is completely dissolved in the tea.

Measure your oils into a saucepan and heat over low heat until your coconut oil melts.

You want the temperature of your lye/tea solution and your oils to be the same, about 90F.

Pour your oil into your blender, then add your lye/tea solution. Using the blender on the lowest, slowest setting possible, blend for about 15 seconds.

Stop the blender, shake it to remove any air bubbles then remove the lid. Add in your salt and sugar, and your essential oils. Place the lid back on your container.

Blend for an addition 15 to 30 seconds, or until your soap traces fully (to check for tracing, dip a spoon into your soap and drizzle it over your soap; if your soap leaves a mark (“trace”) behind that takes a few seconds to sink back in, trace has been reached.

Pour your soap into your mold and carefully tap your mold on the counter to release tiny air bubbles. Because blender soaps trap a lot of air in the mix, some air bubbles are inevitable in your final bar and tapping the mold, as you would a cake pan, will help minimize this. Leave your soap sit undisturbed overnight or for about 8 hours.

After it is hard, tear off your mold and slice your soap into bars using a knife.

Soap should age 6 weeks before use. Frequently people leave soap sit for only three weeks but this aging process is important because the chemical reaction between the lye and fats is not yet complete at three weeks. Leaving the soap sit until the chemical reaction is complete will:

Make the bar harder, which means it will last longer
Make the soap more mild for your skin

The bar on the right was made using green tea, and the bar on the left was made using black tea. Notice the color difference and the different shapes two types of molds made. Besides shape and color, the soaps are the same.

11 Comments

Posted by Rural Spin on May 20, 2013 in Hobbies and Arts, Home and Living, Homesteading, Recipes, Saving Money, Soap Making

Tags: blender soap, castor oil, coconut oil, essential oils, grapefruit, handmade, lemon, lemongrass, olive oil, recipe, shea butter, soap, soap making

Dandelion Sunshine Jelly

09 May

Making jelly using dandelion flowers is a commitment, no doubt about it. But if you enjoy tedium and working with lovely flowers, this is the jelly for you! And there is a real feeling of satisfaction you get from making a delicious food from what some call a weed.

My recipe is not straight-up dandelion jelly. To me, dandelion jelly deserves to be elevated a bit to reflect what I think of as its sunshine status. I wanted to layer flavors with dandelion’s honey-like flavor so the jelly tastes more like dandelion than just jellied flower parts. Because of this, I use honey as the sweetener to accentuate the natural dandelion flavor, lemon juice and zest for brightness, and cinnamon for warmth. This is a lovely, light, tasty jelly to serve on toasts, with cheese and crackers, or as a glaze to a baked ham.

Dandelion Sunshine Jelly ingredients: dandelion flowers, honey, cinnamon, and lemon.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 pints

3 to 4 cups dandelion petals

3 to 4 cups water

2 cups honey

1 tsp cinnamon

Zest from 1 lemon

1 tbls lemon juice

4 tbls low-sugar pectin

PETAL PICKING

The hardest and most time-consuming part of the process is collecting enough dandelions and plucking the petals off of them. I suggest collecting a good gallon of flowers, but make sure those flowers are from an area that has been chemical-free for several years. I’m lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where very few residents use chemicals on their lawns, and they happily gave me dandelion-picking rights.

Pick more dandelions than you think you’ll need so you can pick-and-choose the best for your jelly.

The petals need to be removed from the flowers as quickly as possible after picking them; the flowers close up quickly after harvest and after that happens, collecting the petals becomes much more difficult.

It is very important not to get any green parts (sepals) mixed in with the petals. The sepals will not only affect the color of your jelly, they also affect the taste, and not in a good way. Dandelions contain a milky sap, and you don’t want any of that bitterness to contaminate your jelly. It takes a long time to get just the petals off of the flowers, but if you’re going to make this jelly that is what you have to do. Make yourself a nice relaxing beverage and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Cut the flowers in half to make it easier to remove the petals and prevent the green sepals from making their way into your jelly, which will result in a bitter taste.

Most bloggers making dandelion jelly use scissors to remove the petals. I personally find it easier to use my finger nail. It not only greatly reduces the amount of sepals that make their way into your petal pile, I find that it is quicker than clipping carefully.

To remove the petals, I first cut the entire flower in half. Then I use my thumb nail to pull only the petals off the flower. It’s pretty easy to avoid the sepals with this method, and in two or three pulls, you’re ready to move on to the next flower. And, your petal harvest quotient per flower is much higher than multiple clips. I find this to be important unless you have quadruple the amount of dandelion flowers you need, and have the luxury of only clipping the very top of each flower once.

Make sure you only remove the petals from the flower; including the green sepals into your jelly will result in a bitter taste.

Use your thumb nail to pull the petals from the flower, avoiding the green sepals.

You can stop this tedious process when you have between 3 and 4 cups of petals.

JUICE GETTIN’

There are two ways to get your dandelion juice from the petals: simmer ‘em or steep ‘em.

Simmer ‘em

To simmer them, combine your petals with an equal amount of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a jelly bag or dish towel to remove all of the dandelion liquid. Measure out 3 cups of liquid for making the jelly. If you don’t have quite enough for 3 cups, add a bit of plain water to top it off. (Make sure you squeeze the juice from the petals, too.)

At this point I like to filter the juice through a coffee filter to remove any bits and pollen that sneak through. This also makes a clearer jelly. Once you’ve done this, proceed to Jelly Makin’!

Dandelion tea oxidizes from yellow to a lovely russet color with time. This does not affect the taste of the jelly.

Dandelion tea oxidizes from yellow to this lovely russet brown color with time. This does not affect the taste of the jelly in any way, and the final product will be a lovely dark gold color.

Steep ‘em

You can also get the liquid by making a tea out of the petals. To do this, place your petals in a bowl and cover them with boiling water (use the same amount of water as you have petals). Let them steep overnight, then strain in the morning through a jelly bag or dish towel into a bowl.

As with the “Simmer ‘em” method, I suggest running your dandelion tea through a coffee filter to fully remove any petal bits and pollen. It makes for a nicer looking jelly product. And, again, if you don’t have a full 3 cups of dandelion juice, just top off with water.

A note on color: Dandelion juice will oxidize with time. Fresh juice will be yellow in color, but the longer you wait to make your jelly the color will darken to the russet color shown at left. I don’t mind this as I am adding cinnamon and honey, which darken the color.

JELLY MAKIN’

Wash your lemon and zest it. Cut the lemon in half and juice half, which will end up being about 1 tablespoon of juice. Set the zest and lemon juice aside.

Take your 3 cups of dandelion juice and pour it into a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and add your lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the cinnamon. Continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring.

Slowly add your pectin. But watch it…if you add it too fast it won’t mix in well with your juice and will be clumpy. I use a whisky to stir briskly after I put a bit of the pectin into the mixture.

After all of the pectin is incorporated bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down. Make sure you stir constantly.

Add your honey and return the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute, again stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and skim off any foam.

Immediately pour your jelly into clean, prepared pint jars. If you are canning the jelly, process the jars

in a hot water bath for 10 minutes at normal elevation, and 15 minutes at high elevation, following normal canning protocols as outlined at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Dandelion jelly can be eaten with cheese and crackers, on toast, or added as a glaze to meats, such as ham. It also makes a lovely addition to pastries and baked goods.

12 Comments

Posted by Rural Spin on May 9, 2013 in Edible Plants, Food Preservation, Homesteading, Recipes

Tags: dandelion, edible plants, jelly, recipes, wild edibles

Cottonwood Bud Salve: Soothing and Healing

22 Apr

Cottonwood bud salve is easy to make and has many medicinal qualities.

I’m a big believer in people making their own salves and healing oils, not only for controlling what ingredients touch your skin (especially open wounds), but also to save money. Cottonwood bud salve has been a well-known European and Native American ointment for ages, and is easily made if you have access to dormant buds from a poplar tree.

The salve can be made using the dormant buds from different species of poplar trees (Populus sp.). Cottonwood is the most well-known, but aspen and poplar can be used too. The active ingredients are salicin and populin, pain relievers and anti-inflammatories related to aspirin. (Poplars are healing for other purposes, but here I’ll focus on the salve.)

This salve is sometimes called balm of gilead, or oil of gilead, a valued salve from biblical times. However, the plant used to make oil of gilead was likely one among several options, all indigenous to the Middle East, including desert date (Balantes aegyptica), mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus), or the most likely candidate, myrrh (Commiphora opobalsamum). In fact, many consider myrrh to be the only true source for Balm of Gilead (or Balsam of Gilead). Therefore, the balm made from poplar buds, even though it is definitely effective as a salve, is not true Balm of Gilead though the name is probably interchangeable at this point.

Cottonwood bark is very coarse and distinctive looking.

USING THE DECOCTION

You can use the oil or salve on your skin wherever you are feeling discomfort from aches, pains, inflammation or sore joints. Some massage therapists use the oil for clients who experience arthritis pains, or for athletes with very sore muscles. It can also be used to help heal burns or various skin irritations like chapped skin or scrapes. Just rub the salve on your skin as needed.

GATHERING THE BUDS

Collect the unopened leaf buds when they are dormant, in winter to early spring, between January and March. I like to wait until early spring right before the buds open; I find the amount of resin is higher in early spring than when the tree is in full dormancy.

The bark of cottonwood is dominated by large, grey blocks of bark on the tree trunk. The leaf buds are distinctive, large, and pointed, arranged alternately along the stem. The bud scales are a yellowish green with reddish or orange tinge at the edges. It is not uncommon to see beads of resin on the buds, especially in early spring (my preferred collection time).

The buds of poplar trees, like this cottonwood, are distinctive looking.

I collect the buds after a windy day or a storm; bits of branches break off and fall to the ground, making collection a simple process. If you can find low-hanging branches, that works, as well, but fallen branches are easier and they don’t damage the tree since they have already been removed by natural forces.

MAKING THE DECOCTION

There are two ways to extract the active ingredient from the buds: simmer it or let it steep.

Let it steep:

To let it steep, remove the rinsed, dried buds from the stems and place them in a jar. Cover them with about twice as much olive oil as you have buds and put the lid on the jar. Let it steep in a cool, dark place. Some let the buds steep in the olive oil for a year or more before calling it good. Some leave it sit for a week. Because of this variability, I feel I am getting the most out of the buds using a low simmer (heat that is too high, however, will damage the active ingredients so watch it).

Let it simmer:

Remove your buds from the stem, rinse them to remove any dirt, and let them dry. Place them in a saucepan and cover them with about twice as much olive oil as you have buds (you can also use coconut oil). Turn the heat to as low as you possibly can, and let the buds simmer for two hours or more, then strain.

These cottonwood buds will be rinsed, dried, and simmered very gently with olive oil.

The oil is good as-is after this process. You can just jar it up, store it in a cool, dark place, and rub it on your skin as needed. Or you can take it a step further and make a salve from it, which will make it a bit easier to apply. (Note: If you use coconut oil, it will solidify on it’s own in temperatures above 76F, but will melt in warm weather.)

Grated or chopped beeswax can be melted gently with the cottonwood oil to create a salve.

To make a salve, add no more than 1 oz of beeswax (by weight) for every 5 oz of cottonwood oil. You can either grate it or chunk it up with a good knife. Add it to the saucepan along with the strained cottonwood oil, and melt the beeswax on low heat. Once it is all melted, pour it into a jar. As it cools it will solidify and be ready for use.

Add the beeswax to the cottonwood oil and gently heat until the beeswax is melted.

3 Comments

Posted by Rural Spin on April 22, 2013 in Home Remedies & Apothecary, Homesteading, Saving Money

Tags: apothecary, cottonwood, frugal, healing, home remedies, medicinal, poplar, salve, skin irritation

10 Reasons to Ditch Morning Coffee for Morning Cocoa

17 Apr

Cocoa powder has amazing health benefits, and as a morning beverage can easily replace coffee.

Know what my beverage of choice is in the morning? A hot cup of cocoa. But it’s not the calorie-laden version you might be thinking of…it’s the healthy version that does the same job (for me) as coffee but with more health benefits. Plus, I think hot cocoa has a superior taste to coffee. And, yes, cocoa powder does contain caffeine, but not as much as coffee.

And while a Starbucks 16oz hot chocolate has 370 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 50 grams of carbs, this recipe for 16 ounces of sweetened hot cocoa is only 54 calories, 2 grams of fat, and 15 grams of carbohydrates. It’s only when people add fat to cocoa that it becomes, well, fattening.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF COCOA

We have known about the health benefits of cocoa for centuries. And now we have dozens of scientific studies to back up this historic knowledge. We can thank the high concentration of polyphenols (especially flavanols) in cocoa for these health benefits, even when compared to levels found in other sources like red wine and tea. Here is a list of some of the many health benefits of regular cocoa consumption:

Cocoa and chocolate can cut your rate of heart disease, and cut the death rate of heart-attack survivors.
Cocoa can help decrease the risk of stroke.
Cocoa can decrease blood pressure, including in pregnant women.
Cocoa has the potential to improve kidney function.
The caffeine in cocoa can protect your skin against sun damage and skin cancer.
Older folks who eat chocolate (and wine or tea) have higher cognitive abilities than those who don’t.
Consuming cocoa powder can increase cognitive function and may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
Chocolate can relieve stress.
Eating cocoa or chocolate can increase feelings of satiety, which can help with weight loss.
If you’re sick, cocoa can relieve coughs almost as well as codeine.

HEALTHY HOT COCOA

Cocoa powder and hot water are all that is needed for a tasty morning beverage, but you can add sweetener and milk to taste!

16 ounces of hot water
2 tablespoons real unsweetened cocoa powder (or to taste)
1 teaspoon honey (or more to taste)
1/4 cup milk (optional…I use coconut milk)

While your hot water is boiling, place your dry cocoa powder in the bottom of your cup. After your water boils, pour about 2 tablespoons of the hot water into the cup (if you use more or less cocoa powder, just use an equal amount of hot water here).

Using a spoon, stir the cocoa and water until smooth, to eliminate any lumps. Then fill your cup the rest of the way with hot water.

Add sweetener and milk to taste. For an extra treat, add a bit of vanilla, almond, or hazelnut extract per cup. That’s it! Drink away! What a way to start the morning!

RESOURCES

I used these sources (and others) for my research on the health benefits of cocoa. Click on each study title to be sent to the original article:

Chocolate consumption and mortality following a first acute myocardial infarction: the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program

Blood pressure and endothelial function in healthy, pregnant women after acute and daily consumption of flavanol-rich chocolate: a pilot, randomized controlled trial

Effect of dark chocolate on renal tissue oxygenation as measure by BOLD-MRI in healthy volunteers

Effects of chocolate, cocoa, and flavan-3-ols on cardivascular health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials

Flavonoid-rich cocoa consumption affects multiple cardiovascular risk factors in a meta-analysis of short-term studies

Increased caffeine intake is associated with reduced risk of basal cell carcinoma of the skin

Chemopreventive effects of cocoa polyphenols on chronic diseases

The neuroprotective effects of cocoa flavanol and its influence on cognitive performance

A reduced-calorie dietary pattern including a daily sweet snack promotes body weight reduction and body composition improvements in premenopausal women who are overweight and obese: a pilot study

Theobromine inhibits sensory nerve activation and cough

7 Comments

Posted by Rural Spin on April 17, 2013 in Home Remedies & Apothecary, Recipes

Tags: antioxidants, cancer, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, flavanols, hot chocolate, preventative health, recipe

7 Ways to Use Eggshells (and tips you need to know)

07 Apr

Eggshells can be ground in a blender and used for many purposes, indoors and out.

If you eat eggs, make sure you make the best use of those shells! Most of an eggshell is calcium. In fact, about 95% of shells are calcium carbonate…the same stuff that sea shells, coral, and limestone are made from (the other 5% includes proteins, calcium phosphate, and magnesium carbonate). Here’s a list of what you can do with those shells so the calcium and its brittle shell don’t go to waste.

USE EGGSHELLS FOR THIS

1) Give your hens a calcium boost. Eggshells contain 95% calcium, and hens need calcium to lay eggs that have those strong shells. There is nothing unhealthy about feeding your hens eggshells, as long as those shells have been sterilized to kill bacteria (see below on how to do this) and offered in ground form. Pay special attention to shell sterilization if you get some of your eggs from another source where you can’t be sure of the laying hen’s health.

2) Give your pets a calcium boost: In the case of eggshells, what is good for chickens is good for your pet. Adding pulverized eggshells to their food provides extra calcium for bone health. And just like using shells for chickens, be sure to sterilize the shells first.

3) Give yourself a calcium boost: Consuming calcium from eggshells can help you, too. In a 2003 study published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Research, eggshell consumption helped stop bone loss in postmenopausal women. While you can consume pulverized eggshells for added calcium, remember that calcium amounts very greatly in shells, so there is no way to tell exactly how much calcium you are getting (but we know you are getting more than if you didn’t consume the shells at all). Be sure you bake the shells before consuming to prevent ingesting any bacteria if you haven’t washed the shell before eating the egg (see below).

The finer your grind your eggshells, the sooner the calcium will be available to garden plants.

4) Incorporate them into your soil: It’s a great practice to add ground eggshells into your garden soil (and your indoor pots, too). But realize that it takes awhile for those shells to break down enough for the calcium to be available to your plants. In fact, eggshells can take many years to decompose fully and it will take several years to see the benefits of those eggshell additions to soil. But don’t let this deter you as adding eggshells to soil is great for plants! Start now…in a year or two you’ll start to see benefits (the finer you grind the shells, the more quickly you’ll see benefits). And don’t forget to sterilize those shells before adding them to the soil to prevent adding bacteria to your garden.

5) Keep garden critters at bay: Slugs are slippery little devils, and they dislike the chalky sharpness of ground eggshells. Cutworms don’t like it, either. Sprinkle the eggshell around plants like tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and cabbage to keep their stems safe and destructive critters away. Make sure you cover the surface of the soil around the entire stem.

6) Clean your pots and pans: Yes, you can grind your eggshells into a powder and use it as an abrasive. But, it being an abrasive and all, it will scratch! I’ve used this for especially stubborn spots on cast iron pans or stainless steel (on the insides). Don’t use this on any surface that you want to see a scratch on.

7) Make your coffee sweeter: Adding crushed eggshells to your coffee grounds helps to lessen the acidity of your coffee. Then you can toss the used grounds and eggshells in your compost bin. Better yet, toss them both into your garden soil! The eggshells have the calcium, but the coffee grounds provide the nitrogen.

You can use a blender to grind eggshells fine. (Bowl by the Little Pottery Venture.)

PREPARE EGGSHELLS LIKE THIS

For most eggshell uses, it is better to make sure they are clean and free from bacteria. If you don’t wash the eggs thoroughly before using, bake the shells at 150 degrees Fahrenheit on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes.

You can grind your eggshells either wet or dry. I personally find grinding them dry to be easier, but decide which method works best for you in your kitchen:

To grind eggshells wet, simply take all of your eggshells, place them in a blender and fill the blender with water to about 1/2 way up the eggshells. Then whizzzzzzzzz, and drain. What to do next is where I find the difficulty. Small bits of wet shell are not necessarily cooperative, and most uses for eggshell are easier to implement when the shells are dry.

To grind eggshells dry, you can either leave them sit in a bowl until they are thoroughly dry (I keep the pretty bowl shown above next to my sink and simply stack eggshells as they accumulate), or you can bake them. Baking to dry and sterilize them can serve double duty here! If 10 minutes baking at 150F doesn’t dry all of the wet egg remnants inside the shell perfectly, just leave them bake in the oven until the insides of the egg are perfectly dry. (To see a video on how to use your blender and a mason jar to grind your eggshells and other foods, click here.)

DON’T USE EGGSHELLS FOR THIS

I just can’t recommend that you use eggshells to start seedlings, even though this is a popular infographic on Facebook and all over the interwebs as an eggshell tip (I know…I’m the problem child sometimes). Seedlings are like icebergs…at best what you see above the soil is equal to what is going on below the soil. In fact, sometimes the root system is much larger than the seedling. Half an eggshell just doesn’t have the space necessary to support a growing and intricate root system unless you transplant it pretty quickly to the garden. In drier climates it is also difficult to keep such a small amount of soil moist enough to keep a healthy seedling happy.

Eggshells do not sharpen garbage disposal blades. I don’t think it harms the garbage disposal any more than anything else, but I have read that egg shell bits in the drain, because they are heavier than usual kitchen sink refuse, can contribute to drain clogs. The idea being they settle into a pipe at some point, and slowly start to trap debris. Even more reason to use eggshells for one of their many beneficial purposes!

16 Comments

Posted by Rural Spin on April 7, 2013 in Animals, Gardening, Home Remedies & Apothecary, Homesteading, Kitchen Tips

Tags: chickens, eggshells, gardening, homesteading

10 Natural Tips for Healthier Hair

30 Mar

Women used to have long, luxurious hair using only natural methods and ingredients.

Long, flowing, thick locks used to be much more common than we see today. Some practices that promoted long hair, like washing hair once a week, are not things we’re likely to return to anytime soon. But we can look to the past and bring forth the best of natural hair care practices to make the most of what we have. Try these XXXX hair care tips to minimize breakage, maximize growth, and maintain it once you get it:

1) Brush your hair 100 times a night

There’s a reason for the old wives tale to brush your hair 100 times a night; it’s very beneficial to hair health. Brushing your hair with a good quality brush from root to tip distributes your hair’s natural oils down the hair shaft and makes hair shinier, more manageable, and less prone to breakage. In fact you might be able to eliminate some hair-care products if you devoted time to brush the 100 strokes as recommended. Be sure you start your brushing at the bottom of your hair, and gradually work your way up; this will allow you to gently remove and tangles until you’re just smoothly brushing from root to tip.

2) Use a boar bristle brush

Don’t use just any brush for your 100 strokes…use a boar-bristle brush. Boar bristle brushes are more expensive than synthetic brushes, but they are densely packed on the brush and last for years. This dense construction is the secret to their being able to remove dirt, dust, and debris from hair and move your natural oils along the hair shaft, essentially giving the hair a bit of cleaning without the shampoo (you’ll want to clean your boar bristle brush regularly because of this). Boar bristle brushes have tough but flexible bristles that are wonderful for taming and smoothing even curly hair. And don’t worry, they won’t rip your hair out as long as you start at the bottom and slowly move your way up until you can stroke smoothly from root to tip.

3) Don’t brush your hair when it’s wet:

Wet hair is weaker than dry hair, so don’t ever brush or use a fine-toothed comb on your hair when it is wet. After washing and towel drying your hair, only use a wide-toothed comb to detangle it if you must.

4) Police your commercial shampoo

Many people don’t realize the lax federal regulations regarding beauty products, including shampoos, beyond a mandatory listing of ingredients. It’s up to you to decide if the listed ingredients are safe for you. Many shampoos you buy at the store contain toxic ingredients, and don’t be fooled if the word “natural” appears on the bottle. The word “natural” is not regulated, and anyone can use the word no matter what the product contains. Artificial and drying scents, artificial colors and harmful detergents can damage hair, necessitating the purchase of additional “product” to fix that damage. Ingredients like sodium laurel sulfate, parabens, and benzyl benzoate (and similar) are just a few of the common shampoo ingredients that have been linked to cancer, skin irritation, and even birth defects.

But you’re probably not a chemist, so what to do? Look for ingredients you can pronounce and know what they are. And luckily there are online resources that rate the safety of products for us, like the GoodGuide, which allows shoppers to discover products that are healthy, safe, green, and even socially responsible. The GoodGuide covers everything from shampoo, food, electronics and even cars. Head to the GoodGuide and type “shampoo” into search and you’ll see a list of commercial shampoos and their ratings.

Baking soda, white vinegar (you can also use apple cider vinegar) and essential oils are an alternative to commercial and toxic shampoos.

5) Avoid commercial shampoo

If you want to be super safe, don’t use commercial shampoos; some avoid using shampoo and instead wash their hair with baking soda and vinegar–see my article “Tips and Tricks to Go Shampoo Free” for more info on this method. But be aware, local water chemistry and individual hair make up plays a part in this method, and experimentation is necessary to determine what quantities of each are the right mix for your hair.

If this sounds daunting, you can make or buy your own shampoo bar or use liquid castile soap. Bars of shampoo soap generally do not contain the toxins found in commercial shampoos (but check the label) and do just as good a job (or better) of cleaning hair. Liquid castile soap is conditioning and mimics the method of washing hair with liquid shampoo products because it can come in liquid form as well as bar.

6) Deep condition once a week

A deep hot oil condition improves hair manageability and shine while decreasing breakage; it’s easy and can be incorporated in with household tasks. Simply take about 1/4 cup of a favorite oil (olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil, etc) and heat it until it is warm to the touch but not too hot to handle with your hands. Once it is warm, saturate your hair with it, from root to tip, using your fingers. Don’t be shy about it, you’ll be washing it out later. Place all your hair on the top of your head, wrap your head in plastic wrap or don a shower cap, and then wrap your whole head in a towel. The plastic and towel will trap the heat around your head, and allow the oils to penetrate the hair shaft. Ideally you want to leave it sit for a few hours, but even 30 minutes will help. When the time is up, wash as usual. You may need to wash twice to remove all the oil (if you’re using baking soda/vinegar to wash your hair, add some liquid castile soap to the baking soda mix to remove the oil–this will help greatly).

A protein mask provided by eggs or other ingredients will help decrease frizz.

7) Add protein for frizzy hair

If your hair is especially frizzy, substitute the hot oil treatment with a protein mask once a week. Mix the yolk of two eggs with a bit of warm water (not hot, you don’t want to cook the eggs). Using your fingers, massage this into your scalp and hair shaft. Wrap your head in plastic wrap or a shower cap, and then wrap your head in a towel. Leave this sit in your hair for an hour, then rinse in warm to cool water (again, you don’t want to cook the egg). You can also use a mix of bananas and avocados for this, or mayonnaise, which is just egg and oil.

8) Use leave-in hair oil

Just a few drops are all you need (using more will just make your hair oily needlessly) to impart shine and decrease frizz. There are hair oils on the market (argan oil is very popular now), but you can easily make your own with olive oil and, if you wish, some essential oil. Just place two or three drops of the oil in the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, then smooth over your hair, paying attention to the ends.

9) Treat dandruff naturally: Unfortunately, there is no cure for dandruff, which is a skin disorder also known as seborrheic dermatitis. But you can treat dandruff to manage the symptoms. If you want to avoid the chemicals found in over-the-counter dandruff shampoos, there are other things you can try.

Tea tree oil has been shown to treat dandruff. Add about 20 drops of tea tree oil to your bottle of hair cleanser, or keep a bottle of tea tree oil in the shower and use two drops or so every time you wash your hair. Alternatively, you can also add about 20 drops of tea tree oil to 1/4 cup of olive oil, rub this into your scalp, wrap your head and sleep on it. Wash normally in the morning. You can use this as a “jump start” treatment for your dandruff.

Apple cider vinegar is another safe option that has been shown to assist with dandruff. Rub apple cider vinegar into your scalp (dilute with about 50% water if you have sensitive skin), wrap your head in plastic or a shower cap, then in a towel. Leave this sit for about an hour, then wash. Do this once a week or so to keep dandruff under control.

If these options don’t work, you could choose an old fashioned bar of tar soap. Tar soap has been used as an effective dandruff treatment for hundreds of years and is still recommended by dermatologists for some skin disorders like scabies and ring worm. Tar soap is also recommended for treating lice. But it is, in fact, made from coal; it can smell bad and it can also stain light hair a darker color. Used in low doses, scientific studies have shown that tar soap is safe for treating true medical conditions but it can cause skin irritation in some, and I personally would only use it as a last resort.

10) Eat for your hair

Your hair is a barometer of health–if your hair is dull and lifeless it could mean that your body is as well. In the past people ate food that was as close to the earth as possible and we should, too. Nutrition from the full color spectrum ensures that you are getting the vitamins and minerals necessary for healthy hair. A balanced diet, including healthy oils for essential fatty acids, is important for hair health and shine. Make sure you are eating on a regular basis foods such as salmon, walnuts, and yogurt, sweet potatoes, spinach, blueberries, and more daily to get levels of protein, zinc, vitamins, and minerals needed for happy locks.

2 Comments

Posted by Rural Spin on March 30, 2013 in Home Remedies & Apothecary, Saving Money

Tags: hair, natural, self care

Rustic Sprouted-Wheat Bread

11 Feb

You don’t need anything more than sprouted wheat berries to make a loaf of rustic bread.

Yes, you can make a rustic and tasty loaf with nothing but sprouted wheat seeds. While this isn’t the light and airy bread you might be thinking of for sandwiches, it is a wonderfully chewy loaf that is the perfect accompaniment to soups, stews, or a plate of cheese and fruit. It has a marvelous rich flavor and is moist, with a crisp crust. Best of all, you only need ONE ingredient: wheat seeds. I do provide a few options here, however, for different flavor enhancements if you feel like changing things up. I do find that adding molasses or olive oil improves the texture, but if wheat berries is all you have, you can still make bread.

You will need to sprout wheat berries (wheat seeds) for this. Read my blog post on sprouting wheat berries here for a tutorial, and the health benefits of sprouted wheat berries over non-sprouted. And while this is not a gluten-free bread (it does contain wheat), those who can’t tolerate gluten frequently don’t have as much of a problem with this, simply because it is sprouted grain, which makes it easier to digest. I’ll leave it to you to decide if it would be a safe option to try.

INGREDIENTS

For sprouted wheat berry bread, you want to grind your grains when they are just sprouted, as shown.

Using just wheat berries for this loaf means you can make different additions easily, depending upon what you’re in the mood for. Each recipe makes about 2 servings unless you are really hungry; it’s a dense loaf and goes a long way.

When you sprout your wheat for this recipe, make sure you don’t let the tails get too long; you only want them to just sprout, not to start growing. The longer you let the tails become, the more the flavor of the bread becomes “green” and the texture ends up having strings in it, which is not all that appetizing, trust me.

Recipe 1

1 cup wheat berries, sprouted (see link above on how to do this)

(Seriously…that’s it though the flavor is greatly enhanced with other ingredients…)

Recipe 2

1 cup wheat berries, sprouted (see link above on the how-to)
1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses, honey, or maple syrup (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
dash of salt (optional)

Recipe 3

1 cup wheat berries, sprouted (see link above for the how-to)
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
dash of salt (optional)

I like to grind my wheat berries to include some whole kernels for texture, you may want to grind yours more fine.

HOW-TO

I do this either first thing in the morning for an evening loaf, or at night for a morning loaf. Using the slow cooker means you can leave it cook all day or night while you’re away from home doing other tasks.

Take your slow cooker, line it with some tin foil, and pre-heat it on the low setting. The tin foil will help you to easily remove the loaf when it is done cooking.

While the slow cooker is preheating, grind your sprouted wheat berries. To do this, take your well-drained sprouted grains and place them in a food processor or Vitamix (it’s tough to do this in a blender). Add all of your ingredients and then blend. As you blend the grains into a paste, they will greatly decrease in volume, this is normal! I like to leave a few whole kernels in my loaf; I just like the bite they provide but you can grind the paste until almost smooth. I recommend against making it too smooth, however, as you will make the texture of the bread too dense.

Take a piece of parchment paper and lay it on a plate; the parchment paper will make removing your cooked loaf much easier. Because of how the loaf caramelizes as it cooks, it has a tendency to stick to solid surfaces, even if they are oiled.

Remove your paste and, using your hands, form it into a round loaf. Place it on the parchment paper and leave it rest for about 30 minutes while your slow cooker is heating. After 30 minutes or so, place the parchment paper and your formed loaf into the slow cooker and put the lid on. (If you want to use an oven for this, preheat the oven to 225F and leave the loaf to cook on parchment paper and a cookie sheet for about 4 hours.)

Here’s your loaf, fresh from the slow cooker after about 8 hours, ready to eat.

Leave your bread to cook for about 8 hours (there have been times when I’ve left it for 10 hours by accident…it was still good). During this time, avoid removing the lid from the slow cooker as this causes heat to escape and this will affect cooking.

After about 8 hours, remove the loaf from the slow cooker (I use the corners of the tin foil for this). Let it sit for about 15 minutes, then serve! It is especially tasty with winter soups and stews as it holds up well to soaking up juices. Yum!

8 Comments

Posted by Rural Spin on February 11, 2013 in Uncategorized

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Rustic Sprouted-Wheat Bread

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